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London Underground A60 and A62 Stock
The London Underground A60 and A62 Stock was a type of sub-surface rolling stock which operated on the Metropolitan line of the London Underground from 12 June 1961 to 26 September 2012, and on the East London Line from 1977 until 22 December 2007, when it closed to be converted into London Overground (except in 1986, when one-man operation conversion of the fleet took place). The stock was built in two batches (A60 and A62) by Cravens of Sheffield in the early 1960s, and replaced all other trains on the line. At the time of its withdrawal in September 2012, the stock was the oldest on the Underground, and on any subway system in Europe. It was the only stock to have luggage racks, umbrella hooks and separate power and braking controls, and the last stock not to have any automated announcements. Development and introduction The design was formulated by W S Graff-Baker of the London Passenger Transport Board, as part of the electrification of the Metropolitan line from Rickmansworth to Amersham and Chesham under the 1935–1940 New Works Programme, and owes much to the smaller 1938 Stock. The project was delayed by World War II and lack of funds during the austerity period after the war. In 1946 two experimental trailers similar in exterior appearance to the production trains were built using underframes from T Stock, but they were scrapped when the trials concluded. Graff-Baker died in 1952, before the trains were finally built. When electrification commenced in 1959, London Transport placed an order for 31 A60 Stock trains to replace both T Stock on services to Watford and Rickmansworth, and locomotive-hauled services to destinations north of Rickmansworth. The first units, 5004 and 5008, entered service to Watford in June 1961. The Amersham/Chesham services began later that year. London Transport later ordered 27 A62 Stock trains; these were introduced between 1961 and 1963 to replace F and P Stocks on the Uxbridge service. By December 1963 the roll-out was complete. The trains were designated as A Stock to mark the electrification of the Metropolitan line to Amersham. Four-car units were used on the East London line (then a branch of the Metropolitan line) from June 1977 to April 1985, May 1987 to 24 March 1995 and 25 March 1998 to 27 December 2007, when the line closed to become part of the London Overground network. Withdrawal A60 Stock reached 50 years of service on 12 June 2011. The age of the stock made spare parts harder to obtain and vehicles had to be cannibalised to keep the rest of the stock in operation. S8 Stock replaced the stock, with the first unit introduced on 31 July 2010. This is similar to the S7 Stock for the District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines; the main differences are the layout and number of seats and the provision of two sand hoppers for each rail due to the different conditions at the country end of the line. The withdrawal of A Stock commenced on 9 October 2010. In February 2012 the London Transport Museum began offering luggage racks from withdrawn A Stock for sale. The last train ran in passenger service on 26 September 2013, formed of 5034 + 5062. The same train was used on 29 September 2012 for the final ticket-only railtour, organised by the London Transport Museum. It ran from Moorgate along the entire Metropolitan line, including Watford, Amersham, Aldgate, Uxbridge, Chesham and the Watford North curve. The tour ended at Wembley Park: on the final stretch from Finchley Road, the train was unofficially recorded at 74 mph. One of the driving motor cars, 5034, was part of the first (as 5008) and also the last A Stock train, giving it a life of over 51 years. It was sent to Northwood sidings on 8 October 2012 and loaded onto lorries for disposal. The historical age and significance of No.5034 saw it taken to the Acton Museum Depot for preservation but vehicle 5062 was scrapped. The stock survived in engineering use as a Rail Adhesion Train until March 2018, when it too was scrapped, giving the stock a total life of 57 years. It had been last used in December 2017, when it had developed a fault and repairs were deemed unnecessary, as it was planned to be scrapped after the end of the year anyway, being replaced by a D78 stock unit. The stock outlasted many former British Rail EMUs: the Scottish Class 303 managed 43 years, the Class 309 Clacton Express units 38 years and British Rail Class 312 only 28 years. The former Southern Region 4CIG and 4CEP managed 46 and 49 years respectively. The stock was one of Britain's longest-serving types of train, although falling short of the service length of the ex-1938 Stock still in use on the Isle of Wight and 77 years after construction, or the 81 years of Glasgow Subway rolling stock between 1896 and 1977. A Stock may be outlasted by the InterCity 125 HSTs and the Bakerloo line 1972 tube stock.